ATTRIBUTES
• Kerry Airport: Important regional airport for business and tourism into the SW with Dublin, UK and Europe connections. 335,480 passengers used the airport in 2017; • Higher Education Institutes including UCC, CIT and IT-Tralee (transitioning to Munster Technological University); • Strategic inter-regional rail connectivity (Cork and Tralee on network to Dublin, Limerick and Waterford); • Strategic road network connectivity: Connecting the Metropolitan Areas of Cork, Limerick-Shannon, Waterford, Key Towns, Atlantic Economic Corridor, Ports and Airports; • Energy: SW is a strategic location with surplus energy and renewable energy production supplying national grid. Existing Whitegate Energy Park and potential of Tarbert-Ballylongford;
ATTRIBUTES OF THE SOUTH- WEST INCLUDE: • Critical Mass of South West population 690, 575 people in 2016, 44% of the total Southern Region’s population; • Atlantic Economic Corridor: Extends to Kerry and close connectivity to Cork; • Cork City and Suburbs, States second city with an international role, a population of 208,669 and location of 102,139 jobs in 2016. A WHO Heathy City and UNESCO Learning City and first in Europe for cultural vibrancy and business friendliness;
Sectors: Life Sciences life science (pharma, bio-pharma and med-tech), ICT Companies, Traded Services (extension to strong presence of manufacture base), Financial and Business Services, Fintech, Engineering Industries, Agri Food & Beverage, Agri Tech, Tourism, Energy, Renewable Technologies, Marine, Forestry, Research and Education;
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Cork Docklands Renewal: Flagship regeneration project for the Region with 160ha brownfield renewal in Cork City Docks and 61.5ha in Tivoli Docks;
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• Cork Metropolitan Area, State’s second largest after Dublin 2016 population of 304,169; • Strong Urban Network: 4 Key Towns of Tralee, Killarney, Mallow and Clonakilty. 12 towns over 5,000 population; • Tier 1 International Port of Cork: A premier multi-purpose deep sea port facility. In 2017, over 10.3 million tonnes of trade traffic handled by the Port of Cork; • Cork Harbour: Europe’s largest natural harbour, multi-faceted roles, special driver for the region, potential for SW to be first mover in Marine Spatial Planning; • Other Regional Port and Harbour Assets: Cobh, Kinsale, Bantry, Castletownberehaven, Youghal, Baltimore, Ballycotton, Union Hall, Schull, Tralee- Fenit, Daingean Úi Chúis; • Cork Airport: State’s second international airport, reaching over 40 international destinations. Over 2.3m passengers moved through Cork Airport in 2017;
• Health: Cork University Hospital, the Southern Region’s tertiary referral centre, University Hospital Kerry, Tralee, General hospitals of Mallow and Bantry; • Tourism: Significant culture, heritage, tourism (Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East corridors), natural heritage (national parks, river valleys, coastline, mountains, lakes, forests), UNESCO Heritage Sites, existing and potential greenway and blueway corridors and urban tourism assets.
Southern Regional Assembly | RSES
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